Jul 'Mdama
Jul 'Mdama, also known as The Black Elite and The Didact's Hand, is the former leader of a significant Covenant Remnant faction. He was once an exceptional combatant in the Covenant, and after enduring capture by ONI and witnessing many personal losses at the hands of the UNSC, escaped and founded one of many splinter factions of the Covenant in the wake of the Great Schism. After spending years eluding military detection due to his status as a highly valued target, Jul's faction reached public light during the first battle of Requiem, becoming a serious threat and dubbed a significant Terrorist. Eventually, the forces of Sanghelios tracked what was left of his faction, shattered his fleet and army, and captured him. He is currently being held in a highly secured prison in Exon territory. Theme: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3cu6rnIjU0Y History Early Life/Covenant Jul was born on March 5, 2489 in the State of Mdama on Sangelios. He would marry Raia 'Mdama and father two sons, Dural and Asum 'Mdama years later. He would also become the elder of Bekan Keep in the State of Mdama. During the last half of the Human-Covenant War, Jul entered military servitude in the Covenant Empire, under the name of Jul 'Mdamaee. Here, he proved his significance and skill by climbing the ranks, rising to become the Shipmaster of an ORS-class Heavy Cruiser, the Blight of the Profane. While he was away serving in the war, he left Bekan Keep and the State of Mdama under management of his wife Raia and her grandbrother, Naxan. Post-War/Capture by ONI After the war, Jul lost faith in the Covenant and the Forerunners, also holding humanity in contempt comparing them to the Flood in some aspects and believing they would not cease their colonial expansion. He attended a meeting with the Kaidon of Mdama and Arbiter Thel 'Vadam, trying to convince the pair to strike against the UNSC. The Arbiter expressed his desire to maintain peace; a private conference with the Kaidon of Mdama told Jul that despite his shared mistrust of humanity, he didn't believe the Sangheili capable of enacting a successful suppression of the UNSC and thought peace the better, safer option. Powerless and with minimum support, Jul then sought aid from other sources. He and his fellow shipmaster Forze 'Mdama came across the Servants of the Abiding Truth; a plot was made with several members and some of Jul's followers to assassinate The Arbiter. However, as preparations were being made, Jul became suspicious with one of his contacts after they met up with the UNSC's Office of Naval Intelligence. Jul was then shortly after discovered and captured by a Spartan, where he was taken into ONI custody. Inprisonment/Founding the Covenant Remnant Jul was detained in an undisclosed ONI prison, where he maintained a false belief in the Covenant's ways and Forerunner ideology. This allowed him some insight in Forerunner knowledge being gathered by the humans. He managed to stage a riot and slipped out of captivity, escaping in a cargo ship. He found his way back to Sangheili space. After covertly returning to the State of Mdama, he learned he not only lost his leadership, but also learned of the death of his wife and that his sons had vanished. Enraged at learning of the UNSC's involvement, he gathered additional followers before withdrawing to another Sangheili world, where he and his supporters scavenged from lost relics of the Covenant. Managing to assemble a small fleet of starships as well as obtaining weapons, vehicles, personnel and other supplies, Jul 'Mdama founded his Covenant Remnant, which came to be known under a monicker as the "Storm Covenant." Despite their self-proclaimed ferocity, they were in reality little more than a pirate faction, pillaging colonies and fleets for goods. Requiem (Seee Halo 4) Return to Requiem (wip) Crossover Border Skirmishes After Requiem, Jul 'Mdama managed to garner more sources of support in secret across various colonies belonging to remnant species of the Covenant. He led his faction of pirates in several raids against multiple factions, including many great powers such as Sanghelios, the UNSC, the UCR, the Orb Union, and Exon. During these first raids, Jul's scientists conducted experimental operations on victims they captured alive, seeking to replicate some of the augmentations used by the UNSC. Most of their efforts resulted in great failure, though limited successes proved enough that Jul deemed it worth the risk to perform on himself. Jul was successfully augmented in a crude variation to some special forces, becoming improved to such a level that it would take more than certain conventional warfare to take him down. These augmentations were then repeated and granted to several individuals that proved their worth, including Jul's personal assassins known as the Silent Blades, his Zealots, and other high commanders. During one skirmish against Sanghelios, Jul was sighted on foot commanding the infantry portion of a raid on one of the Elite worlds. Shortly after, an Exon force arrived to bolster the Sangheili defenses, and forced the Storm Fleet back. Jul and many of his soldiers managed to escape onto the ships; however, his flagship was temporarily disabled by the Exon fleet, being forced to hide out and touch down on a small moon nearby. The UNSC, having caught wind of the Storm Covenant's presence, conducted an operation using a fireteam of Spartan-IVs, their objective to capture or kill Jul 'Mdama. Though they managed to penetrate Jul's ground defenses, they were forced into a firefight with a significant force; after getting to Jul himself, they were defeated by the leader of the Remnant who demonstrated his newfound enhancements, and were unable to stop him from retreating. His ship restored, the Storm Covenant vessels managed to escape into Slipspace before Exon could find them. Second ONI imprisonment The Storm Covenant were publically seen once more after Jul obtained captured Forerunner technology and began to experiment with it. Setting up in an uncharted Star system, the Storm Covenant activated the tech and accidentally released another Covenant Remnant faction from a Slipspace prison; the Hand of Tonitrui. The two factions enacted a quick battle, which spilled out onto one of the terrestrial worlds in the system. Conveniently, this planet just happened to be undergoing exploration by A.L.I.E.N. during the battle. Word got out and military forces raced to the spot. The Remnant fleets detected the arrival of an active Forerunner ship, Danno's frigate named The Judgement. Deciding to take whatever he could from the Forerunner, Jul took a CRS Light Cruiser and attempted to reach out to Danno, while the leader of the Tonitrui, Sotophirus, attempted to do the same. Danno, taking advantage of the situation, feigned acceptance of their faith and pretended to cooperate. Jul ordered his Remnant force to retreat to their hideout and await his return; however, this would not happen as soon as he believed, since Danno ended up turning him over to the UNSC. The UNSC confiscated the CRS Light Cruiser, all its crew and soldiers, equipment, and supplies; Jul himself was transferred to ONI custoty and became their prisoner once again. Assault on ONI prison/Capture of Carrie-S712 As time passed, Jul's leaders realized he must have been captured and conducted covert operations to locate him. Eventually, they tracked word that Jul was detained in an ONI facility. A couple of raids were performed on a few facilities across UNSC space, but they were unable to find him. Later, Jul's location was pinpointed; a UNSC Paris-class Heavy Frigate was disabled during a previous supply raid, and happened to contain intelligence on the ONI prison holding Jul. The Remnant used this Frigate, restoring it to limited functionality and filled it with stealthed soldiers to break into the prison. A reserve battlegroup of CRS Light Cruisers and a pair of RCS Armored Cruisers were left in hiding in the nearby asteroid field, acting as the rendezvous point and as backup reinforcement. Exiting Slipspace near the facility, the Remnant activated a distress beacon, claiming to have escaped a raid and requesting help. However, the captain of the UNSC Audacity, which was near the facility as well, wisely scanned the frigate with their Forerunner sensors and detected the stealthed Storm Covenant forces. From there, the Frigate suddenly went offensive, blasting through defenses and crashing into the station. While the prison entered lockdown, deploying their security teams and attempting to contain the breach in atmosphere, the Storm soldiers quickly spilled into the station in search of 'Mdama. At this point, the Audacity deployed trooper teams to retake control of the prison rather than using its cannons to destroy it; these teams included Spartans. When several Storm soldiers managed to penetrate the cell block containing Jul, the security team was overwhelmed and the Storm Covenant got to their leader. Jul was freed, releasing several other prisoners in exchange for their immediate obedience. On their way to extraction, several other firefights resulted in many deaths and wounds on both sides; one of these wounded included a Spartan-IV, Carrie-S712. Jul came across her, and rather than leaving her to die or killing her himself, the leader of the Storm elected to take her with them to learn about the Spartan-IVs and gain other UNSC intelligence. Though many of his troops and a few released prisoners were downed, Jul and a significant portion of his followers managed to board one of the Audacity's Pelicans and fled the area, evading capture. The Pelican was found and picked up by a Lich, which returned to the hidden battlegroup in the asteroid field. The ships then covertly slipped away back to Jul's hideout. Continued war with the Factions During several sessions of questioning and torture, Jul's Storm Remnant studied Carrie's body augmentations and her MJOLNIR Gen2 armor and equipment. Jul ordered the human to be modified through their experimental augmentation system, and Carrie was subjected to their crude version of augmentation. Carrie-S712 was successfully brainwashed and enhanced by the Remnant, and became one of Jul's special operatives and most effective soldiers. She worked well with his Silent Blades and together they were a devastating order of assassins. Jul 'Mdama continued his raids, gaining significant size and power. During these raids, his faction continued finding additional Forerunner technology, relics of the Covenant, and equipment and intelligence on the major Factions. The Storm Covenant would fight against several forces to maintain their presence and power, where Jul sought greater achievements of domination and terror. Throughout these raids, Jul would integrate several pieces of Forerunner technology into his personal Combat Harness, including weapons, defenses, and other capabilities. Coupled with his personal augmentations, Jul as an individual was greatly enhanced, unable to be defeated in personal combat by even some of the special forces used by the major Factions. However, after a year the Storm Covenant's power began to dwindle. Under pressure from the combined losses against multiple major Factions, Jul's Fleet was unable to keep up and suffered several great losses. Jul would lose ships, colonies, sources of supply, support from other lesser powers, and in the last few months of his significance many of Jul's leaders began to doubt his ability to maintain strength during the fighting. A small number of his own force would try to rise against Jul and take leadership, though Jul managed to cut them down and maintain leadership. The greatest loss to the Storm Covenant came when the UNSC conducted an operation to capture his Flagship, the CAS Assault Carrier Song of Retribution. While a fleet strike was used to gather attention from surrounding ships, the Four Horsemen were used to board the Flagship and attempt to capture Jul once again. While the leader of the Storm Covenant managed to escape, he lost his Flagship; additionally, his brainwashed Spartan-IV, Carrie-S712, was killed during the boarding action. Capture by Sangheili Eventually, Jul 'Mdama was found by Exon and The Swords of Sangheilios in 2572. The last of 'Mdama's pirate fleet was discovered in close orbit to the Kig-Yar homeworld, Eayn. With only about half a dozen ships and low on supplies and morale, the Covenant Remnant made plans to find aid on the moon's surface. Fortunately for them, there was a local settlement there that were secret supporters of 'Mdama's regime, but Jul seemed to also have other goals in mind that he did not reveal, except for his closest aid. Exon and Sangheilios arrived very shortly after contact was made between the Remnants and Eayn. The two de facto leaders of the factions, Noah 'Chavam and Thel Vadam, headed the strike against the Remnant's forces. After a brief naval engagement to scare Jul from his designated lead vessel (along with a brief boarding bout to try to capture him as well), the Remnant leader managed to flee aboard a Lich, and made escape to the settlement with a few Commanders and Zealots while his pre-deployed ground forces would hold out against Exon and Swords. The Pirates were struck by surprise from additional Exon ground forces from loyal cities nearby; the Remnants held out as long as they could, only lasting about 15 minutes with a handful of Jackals as survivors. 'Mdama's aid was briefly interrogated by Exon, though he died of his wounds before they could pull any information out of him. Meanwhile, Jul went to the settlement to find what he was secretly looking for, leaving his surviving Jackals to hunt his pursuers while he escaped. The Arbiter and Noah fended them off easily, and pursued 'Mdama down a mineshaft that went deep enough into the moon's crust to come near it's liquid mantle. Though surprised to find what appeared to be the start of a Forerunner excavation site, they followed their prey, intent on taking him down once and for all. Jul made it to what he was searching for, an interstellar teleportation unit. However, he had to stall and face a test from the Forerunner site's guardian before he could go on. His last surviving Sangheili Commanders and Zealots held against Arbiter and Noah long enough for him to pass the test and make it through the teleporter. Soon, the two hunters had to pass this test themselves, delaying the both of them for a long while before they were able to make it through the teleporter themselves. They were surprised to find themselves emergeing from a mountain cave on Kamchatka. Jul had kept one big secret for years; a private fortress on the icy continent, hidden from the rest of the galaxy, unknown to all but the highest of his Remnant forces. The Arbiter and Noah made their way to infiltrate it. Successfully penetrating the Castle's wall, they were forced to contend with dozens of Remnant troops after they were discovered shortly following their entering the keep. Unable to fight them all, the two made a run for it, firing at anything that came to close and leaving the others behind. Detonating a platform they came from to keep the rest from following, they encountered a Kraken coming towards the Castle. The two elites kept pushing, not having much time left. They encountered Jul's last remaining Jiralhanae, who he had managed to keep imprisoned in the Castle and used them as slaved guards. Arbiter and Noah dealt with them, finding Jul awaiting extraction on a lone platform amongst his last remaining leaders. After a long, intense battle, Jul's leaders were killed, and he resorted to using a combination of Covenant and Forerunner weapons against the two experienced elites. Landing gruesome blows on both whilist receiving likewise, Jul remained confident he would escape, but was bested in sword combat by both the Arbiter and Noah when they coordinated their strikes. Finally defeated once and for all, the Remnant leader was knocked unconcious by the Arbiter. Soon after, Noah and Arbiter boarded the Phantom meant to pick Jul up; while carrying the unconcious Jul with them, they used the Phantom to board a Lich, which they used to fight the Kraken. After taking out its weapons, they crashed the Phantom on it's platform, killing the Kraken's crew and destroying it's core. The two of them leaped off the platform back onto the Castle's main courtyard. The Arbiter's reinforcements arrived shortly afterward; seeing their unconcious leader and being completely surrounded with no means of escape, the rest of the Remnants surrendered to the Swords of Sangheilios. Exon Trial Jul 'Mdama was taken to an undisclosed location for his trial by Exon and the Swords of Sangheilios, though a recent leak spilled it was the Exon moon Cyberia, one of their many Work Camp prisons. Here, he was judged for all of his actions following the fall of the Covenant Empire, including his raids before the battle of Requiem. Jul denied none of the accusations made against him, and harbored no regret for any of his actions. His attempts to justify himself were met with harsh, nasty reactions from the audience, who likely wanted him dead or tortured. Jul was ultimately sentenced life imprisonment and labor for the camp, and was taken to a securer location where he would be held, for his own protection, against those that wanted him ripped to pieces. He remains here, occasionally doing labor for the camp, otherwise sitting in his cell. Personality/Traits Irena Magnusson: "They're your Gods." Jul 'Mdama: "Not mine. Gods don't die or forget to return. Gods choose better Prophets than the San'Shyuum, too." Irena Magnusson: "Do you believe in any Gods?" Jul 'Mdama: "No, but I am prepared to be persuaded if one should appear." Jul 'Mdama's hatred for humanity initially stemmed not from any religious devotion, but from a fear that their expansion would spell the extinction of the Sangheili. To this extent, he compared humankind to the Flood in some ways. Skeptical that the humans could not be trusted, he attempted to persuade Arbiter Thel 'Vadam, who was chief in the effort to get Elites and Humans to work together, that mankind was not worth being peaceful with and should be suppressed, if not quelled. His hatred was only fueled when he was abducted and kept in captivity by ONI. This general hatred became a vendetta when learning that the death of his wife was due to what he believed was humanity's role in her demise, making his goal of species survival turn to personal vengeance. When he made his Remnant faction, he forbade humans from membership except for a select few who demonstrated disregard for their own species, or who happened to oppose factions of humans. To this extent, he was willing to work with them in limited manners, using human languages to communicate with them such as English, which he learned while in ONI captivity. However, he forbade anyone in his force from speaking human languages in conventional settings, and had strict punishments for those that casually used human tongues. Jul 'Mdama displayed a combination of typical Sangheili aggression as well as patience and manipulation. He only managed to escape his first ONI captivity by behaving like they expected his race to, while secretly gleening information from them which led to not only his escape, but gave him ease when it came to conjuring supplies and personnel in making the Storm Covenant. Having lost faith in the old Covenant ways and the divinity of the Forerunners, Jul disregarded any efforts on ONI's part to intimidate him using tactics based on these beliefs. Though he was temporarily realigned towards Forerunner divinity during the Requiem campaign after meeting the Ur-Didact, after a time he reverted back to disbelief and was convinced the Forerunners had no otherworldly power over the Galaxy. He maintained this attitude even after encountering another living Forerunner, Danno, whom he planned on tricking into believing he would be a servant in order to undermine the Forerunner and gain access to his great technology; however, this was thwarted when Danno took advantage of the playing game and simply turned him over to ONI before Jul could exploit a weakness. Thanks to this, Jul has now completely abandoned any faith in the Forerunners, developing a sort of personal hatred for them. Equipment During the Requiem Campaign, Jul 'Mdama wore the new Zealot variant of Sangheili Combat Harness, with a few variations. First, instead of the dark maroon typical of Zealots in the Storm Covenant, it was painted blue, similar in coloration to lesser Sangheili. His high position was further indicated by a holograhic symbol over the helmet, as well as several Sangheili handprints of a lavender color across his armor, with an unpainted pattern in the palm of the Didact's symbol, signifying his status as "The Didact's Hand." Jul 'Mdama typically only carried his personal Type-1 Energy Sword and Type-1 Antipersonnel Plasma Grenades, though he would sometimes be seen armed with a Type-25 Plasma Pistol and Type-55 Storm Rifle. Jul 'Mdama's armor came equipped with Type-3 Active Camouflage and Evade, allowing him both stealth and quick dodging capable of breaking enemy target locks. Jul had modified vehicles for his transportation, including a Type-44 Phantom with Active Camouflage and Shields as well as a heavily armed "Stealth" Lich. After the Requiem Campaign, Jul mustered a great deal of military materiel, including personal armor augmentations. For the first half of his successful Terror raids, a majority of this technology was Covenant in design. He received updates to his personal Combat Harness, including a new color scheme that was a deep, dark blue/indigo which appeared jet black in dark settings. His armor incorporated improved shielding, enhanced camoflauge, tracking abilities, a Thruster pack, chameleon color change suite for stealth, a vacuum seal, increased storage capacity for batteries of his weapons and a wrist attachment to his right hand, allowing him quick access to his Energy Sword similar to Arbiter Ripa 'Moramee. Further augmentations to Jul 'Mdama's armor came from Forerunner technology. These enhancements include Constraint Field generators in his wrists, a Hardlight Blade, A Hardlight Shield Generator in the left wrist, Promethean Vision, a Bubble Shield with Regenerative ability, an AI Suppressor, Stasis Field, Autosentry, Overshields without the glowing effect, Power generators for the suit, and Teleportation. Powers/Abilities Before and during the Requiem Campaign, Jul 'Mdama had no extraordinary traits, merely being an experienced combatant with covenant technology in his combat harness. During his rise to power, Jul subjected himself to experimental augmentations, a crude replica of the UNSC's human enhancement programs. Through this, he gained increased strength, speed, reflexes, endurance, stamina, and regeneration. He also gained increased protection to disease and sickness, as well as an increased ability to learn and retain memory. Jul 'Mdama is a skilled tactician in many fields, as effective in space naval combat as he is in armor and infantry deployments. In personal combat, Jul demonstrates incredible ease in using almost any handheld weapon of various technologies and origins, be it UNSC, Covenant, Forerunner or any of the other Factions. He is a skilled Swordsman, able to hold his own against an Arbiter and Sangheili High Commander at the same time with no support for several minutes. Category:Characters Category:Sangheili Category:Male Category:Covenant Category:Pirate Category:Terrorist Category:Military career Category:Enhanced Category:Lawful Evil Category:Danno's Characters